Man has utilized the power of moving air and water since the beginning of recorded time. The harnessing of wind power to perform a variety of tasks has become increasingly more sophisticated. Since the last century wind power has been utilized to generate electricity on a large scale. The familiar three bladed wind generators are often installed in considerable numbers and arranged over large land areas where the wind blows during most of the year. Such “windmills” are often built in many different sizes and may face in different directions so that at least a portion of the wind generators is always rotating. These wind generators may also be seen off shore in many countries. The goal of producing a better wind generator has created a glut of ideas that encompass a variety of designs and a range of sizes. Many of the designs disclose several rotors in a single generating assembly.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,692,230, Selsam teaches a multi-rotor wind turbine that is pivotally rotatable by means of a turntable system located at the top of an elevated support means or tower. The wind turbine consists of a series of rotors mounted along a single ‘horizontal’ shaft. The rotors are sufficiently spaced apart so as not to create any disturbance or other interference with each other. The generator is substantially centered on the shaft directly over the pivot point with rotors both fore and aft of the generator. A number of embodiments are disclosed in which the pitch of the shaft is varied from horizontal to tilt at various angles. The angle may be fixed or adjustable. The number of rotors on each side of the generator may be the same or there may be more rotors forward of the generator or more rotors aft of the generator. The rotors may have three blades or two blades and the whole shaft, mounted on the turntable, may turn with the wind in the manner of a weather vane. More than one shaft assembly may be mounted on a single turntable. In another embodiment the two parts of the shaft rotate independently in opposite directions driving two counter-rotating halves of a load.
A very different system is taught by Emshey in U.S. Pat. No. 7,540,705, wherein the multi-blade turbine is set at ground level. The turbine is mounted within a half shroud supported in a frame having a central rotatable shaft and outer arms supported on motorized wheels so that the frame can rotate about a circular track according to the wind direction. A second half shroud nests within the first and can be rotated to close over the turbine according to weather conditions. The turbine itself has a central shaft mounted longitudinally within the shroud. A series of arcuate blades are arranged in rows about the shaft with each row of blades spaced to be offset from the adjacent rows. A covered inlet vane is attached to the shroud to assist in directing the flow of fluid tangentially past the upper exposed turbine blades. Two such turbine assemblies can be connected along a common axis on either side of a single load device or generator.
A multi-unit wind generator supported on a horizontal platform mounted at the top of a tower is disclosed by Gasendo in Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0047733. A frame is attached to the platform and includes two or more horizontal shafts, each with at least one blade assembly. Each such blade assembly unit includes a ratchet bearing so that when the blades of one unit are activated by the wind the ratchet bearing engages and rotates the shaft while the other units are free and will not engage the shaft and will not induce drag. Each unit has four angled blades. As each shaft rotates it cooperates with a pulley and belt which in turn cooperates with another pulley which rotates another shaft. The torque is ultimately transported to a speed multiplier gear and then to the generator. The generator may be attached to the platform or may be located at ground level wherein a vertical shaft transmits the torque.
Another ground level multi-unit wind powered rotary device was disclosed by Furukawa in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. S55-051970 that was filed in 1978. This device is supported by a frame having several tiers of blade wheels which are mounted on horizontally rotating shafts. There are five shafts on each of three tiers. Each shaft supports three blade wheels which increase in diameter from front to back to allow the wind to reach each successive blade wheel. Each rotating shaft has two gears that mesh with chains ultimately transferring the torque to an output shaft. The frame is mounted on wheels enabling it to rotate about a central support shaft. The support shaft is turned by a motor connected to a wind direction detector such that the face of the frame is always turned into the wind.
All of the prior art systems are capable of generating electricity as long as the wind is blowing. None provide any means to rotate the blades when there is no wind. None disclose a housing design which separates the oncoming wind or fluid flow into components, each having a positive effect on the blade rotation. There is a need for a wind powered torque generating system that can be operational even when the wind subsides. There is a need for an efficient wind powered torque generator that can be operative as a single unit, in multiple units working together, in a variety of sizes, and that has the capability of continuous operation. There is a need for such a system that has an auxiliary source of compressed air that can be activated when there is no wind so that the system is in constant operation with no lag in the supply of electricity. There is a need for a fluid flow torque generator housing design that can create more than one path for the same oncoming flow of fluid to increase its effect on the blade rotation and torque output.